OBITUARY – Brother Kevin Crowley: 1935-2025.
Brother Kevin Crowley was born February 24th 1935 in Kilcolman, Enniskeane.
He was baptised William after his father William Sr in the parish church and he later received the name Kevin when he joined the Capuchin order.
Brother Kevin’s life as a champion of the poor started when he answered an ad in The Southern Star in 1958.
The advert was placed in the paper by the Irish Capuchin Franciscan Friars who were asking for single young men to a vocation of prayer and service to the poor.
When Brother Kevin finished his education at Bandon Vocational School he worked briefly as a signalman with CIÉ at Bandon railway station before he then answered the advert in The Southern Star.
He first entered the Capuchin Franciscan order in Kilkenny before finishing his noviciate in Rochestown Capuchin College.
In 1962 Brother Kevin made his perpetual profession at St Bonaventure’s friary at Victoria Cross in Cork City and over the next five years he served as a cook, Brother Master of Novices in Rochestown College, and in 1967 he served as Quester in Ards Friary in County Donegal.
In 1968 Brother Kevin was tasked with running the Capuchin Clothing Guild on Dublin’s Church Street.
The co-operative was set up by the friary on Church Street to give employment and purpose to those unable to find work due to disability. A similar guild was also set up in the Holy Trinity Friary in Cork City.
Many jobless and homeless men were also taken on by the guild and Brother Kevin was horrified to see these same men rummage through bins for food. This spurred him to establish a dayroom in the friary to feed the homeless.
In 1969 he oversaw the reconstruction of the guild offices on Bow Street into a day centre where soup and bread was served to those in need.
Meeting His Holiness Pope Francis at the Capuchin Day Centre, Dublin in August of the same year.From the 1970s onwards the Capuchin Day Centre provided hot meals and in the 1990s Brother Kevin realised there was a dire need to extend the building due to the high numbers availing of the services the Day Centre offered. In 1996 a new Capuchin day centre was built on the old site and the level of demand for its services continued to rise into the 2000s.
In 2015 the West Cork man was awarded the freedom of Dublin City as a mark of recognition for his tireless commitment to the poor of the capital. A much bigger recognition came in 2018 when Pope Francis visited Brother Kevin at the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin.
Brother Kevin’s old primary school, Kilcolman National School, did not forget their past pupil. The children and teachers raised money for Brother Kevin’s charitable work with a Christmas jumper fundraiser and he responded to the children with a kind letter of thanks writing: ‘It is great to think that there are young people like you who will care for the people in the years to come.’
When Brother Kevin retired in 2022 the centre he established in 1969 remained open and it continues to help the poor and vulnerable. The Capuchin Day Centre now provides more than just hot meals. Food parcels and clothing are distributed and personal care facilities are also offered to those who need them.
In recent years the centre evolved under Brother Kevin’s watch to provide services such as a nurse and a GP, a dental clinic, opticians clinic and a chiropodist clinic along with counselling service and family social support. All of this work is charitable with just 10% of funds coming from the Irish government and the rest from church and donors.
Br Kevin was guest of honour at the Southern Star and Celtic Ross Hotel’s West Cork Hero Awards in February 2018. He is seen here with then Southern Star editor Con Downing at the event.
In retirement Brother Kevin returned to his native West Cork.
He died at the age of 90 in the care of the Bon Secours Sisters at Mount Desert Nursing Home July 2nd 2025. Brother Kevin was pre-deceased by his siblings Sean, Jerry, Donie and Eily.
Brother Kevin Crowley was indeed a proud West Cork man but, his remains were brought back to the place where he helped so many – Dublin. He now rests in peace with his Capuchin brothers in the Capuchin Franciscan plot at Dardistown Cemetery.
Brother Kevin devoted his whole life to helping the poor and he leaves behind a remarkable legacy in the form of the Capuchin Day Centre which stays true to Brother Kevin’s founding principal - to relieve the hardship endured by homeless people.
– Pauline Murphy, historian
